DELHI - In a shocking incident that has provoked national outrage, hooligans
from the fundamentalist Hindu group Sri Ram Sene on January 24 barged into a
bar in India's coastal city of Mangalore and brutally beat up a group of young
girls for "violating traditional Indian norms".
The girls were punched, their hair was pulled and clothes torn. Their male
friends were also assaulted. The girls' crime? Eating and drinking in a bar.
Even as this incident was unfolding, in nearby Mumbai another
radical group, the Shiv Sena, was attacking a plush suburban hotel, damaging
property and creating mayhem. Why? The hotel's management had sacked employees
belonging to a certain section of society.
Another fringe group calling itself the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS)
wreaked havoc on the Mumbai University campus on January 26, vandalizing
property because the school "dared" to offer Hindi language classes as an
alternative to Mumbai's local dialect of Marathi. The MNS hooligans also
renewed their campaign against north Indians in Nashik town, attacking people
at a public function where north Indians were celebrating Republic Day.
These four shameful incidents, which transpired in quick succession this month,
have distinct political underpinnings. They underscore how under the garb of
"morality", misguided political groups in India are vandalizing property and
terrorizing people for their behavior, lifestyle or even apparel.
Unfortunately, such savagery by self-styled upholders of Indian "morals" has
become a frequent occurrence in these politically charged times.
Political observers have blamed diverse reasons for this thuggery masquerading
as "political activism". According to one theory, it suits Indian political
parties to have these groups at their disposal. When damage occurs, and the
media heat gets too much to handle, the political party will then distance
itself.
The groups claim they were acting to further the party's "ideology", and trying
to carve a national identity for themselves. The groups are helped by poor law
enforcement in Indian states, which often means the they can escape
prosecution.
"There's no dearth of laws to put such non-state actors behind bars," said
criminal lawyer Ved Bharatiya, "but the police always end up capitulating to
political pressure". Bharatiya adds that there has been very few cases of
punishment for crimes committed by members of these fringe outfits.
The last time the court held a political party accountable for vandalism was
when it heavily fined the Shiv Sena and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in
2004 after the two were found guilty of damaging public property during a
Mumbai bandh (political strike).
These fringe groups see themselves as "protectors" of Indian culture, to which
girls drinking in pubs is an anathema. This is symptomatic of a rising new wave
of religious and political intolerance in the country.
The BJP government in Karnataka did not even react to the pub attack until the
media pushed the matter and the party's central leadership finally expressed
regret.
"Their method was wrong," said a defiant Pramod Muthalik, the founder of the
Sri Ram Sene, about his followers' actions. "It should not have happened. But
it was done to save our daughters and mothers from an alien culture," he said.
Earlier, in interviews to regional and national channels, Muthalik denied that
the attack was carried out by his organization. "They are not our workers.
There is a conspiracy against the BJP government in Karnataka. The UPA (United
Progressive Alliance) government at the center [Delhi] and the Congress are
behind the conspiracy to tarnish the image of the state government," Muthalik
said.
Similarly, in Maharashtra, the Congress government has failed to come down hard
on the group responsible for the hotel damage. State governments seem unwilling
or unable to manage this random violence. Mangalore has recently suffered a
strong wave of anti-Christian violence, so people may have expected the local
administration to be alert to such a recurrence. If so, they were disappointed.
Insiders say that administrative apathy and inefficacy have let fringe groups
like the MNS and the Shiv Sena become a law unto themselves, with state
governments often conveniently looking the other way. The fear among the public
is that as this May's general elections draw near, such incidents will spiral
upward.
Public outrage has grown after the pub attack, with human rights groups calling
it was a violation of basic freedoms. "Indian culture gives equal status to men
and women. So why are women expected to stay in purdah (a veil), while
the men do as they please," said Sunidhi Shah, a Delhi-based activist. "Serious
action must be taken against these mad men. If not we'll return to the medieval
times when women had no rights at all."
According to the state police chief, the Mangalore attackers will be booked on
charges of criminal trespass, assaulting women, rioting on private premises and
criminal conspiracy. The police said that they are exploring the possibility of
invoking a stringent local mandate against Goonda (thugs) to prosecute
the identified attackers.
The Goonda Act was established to curb rowdy elements involved in activities
like extortion. But sceptics fear this is only symbolic and the vandals will
soon be released - if they are jailed at all - to offend again.
Woman and Child Development Minister Renuka Chowdhury has termed the Mangalore
assault an attempt to "Talibanize" India. "I am absolutely horrified at this
insensitivity. There is no place for these kinds of acts in India as it is a
democracy," Chowdhury said.
Neeta Lal is a widely published writer/commentator who contributes to
many reputed national and international print and Internet publications.
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